Incentives (e.g., economic incentives) can result by replacing or substituting an amount (e.g., either complete or partial replacement) of one or more certain ingredients in cheese compositions with other (e.g., less expensive) ingredients.
However, replacing a conventional cheese composition ingredient can present one or more technical hurdles because cheese compositions are complex compositions and their properties can be sensitive to (i.e., require) the presence and/or amount of certain ingredients. Thus, conventional cheese manufacturing has come to rely on certain cheese composition ingredients to provide certain properties. Exemplary technical challenges include finding a substitute ingredient that can provide a cheese composition with one or more suitable functional properties (e.g., melt, stretch, and firmness), organoleptic properties (e.g., texture and flavor), and nutritional properties.
One ingredient in cheese compositions that has been targeted for a reduced presence is casein protein. In particular, casein protein has been targeted to be reduced in quantity by using a less expensive ingredient. Casein protein is a protein, naturally found in milk that can provide a cheese composition with one or more of functional, organoleptic, and nutritional properties. It can be replaced (e.g., reduced in amount) by substituting an amount of casein in a cheese composition with an amount of certain type of starch.
However, the ability to replace casein protein with starch can be significantly limited depending on the desired functional, organoleptic, and/or nutritional properties of the cheese composition. For example, replacing casein with starch can provide a cheese composition with less than desired functional properties (e.g., melt, stretch, and firmness) because starch is not necessarily always a “functional” replacement of casein protein, but can merely replace a certain mass of casein protein. Similarly, starch can impart a different, sometimes less desirable, flavor and/or texture to the cheese composition than provided by casein. Furthermore, replacing casein protein with starch, a carbohydrate, can significantly alter the nutritional characteristics of a cheese composition (e.g., the cheese composition may not satisfy nutritional standards imposed by the United States Department of Agriculture). Thus, conventional cheese making has come to rely on the mere presence and sometimes quantity of casein protein to provide certain cheese composition properties.
Despite these limitations, there exists a strong desire (e.g., economic incentives) to further reduce the amount of casein protein in certain cheese compositions. However, providing suitable functional, organoleptic, and nutritional characteristics while reducing the casein protein even further in certain cheese compositions presents significant technical challenges.
Another ingredient that is commonly found in cheese compositions is shortening, which often contains trans fat. In general, recent consumer trends indicate that trans-fatty acids (i.e., “trans-fat”) in food products and food intermediates are being avoided by consumers to help increase the healthfulness of their diet. Accordingly, many food product marketers are finding ways to provide consumers with food products having reduced and/or substantially no trans-fat content.
Trans-fat is an unsaturated fatty acid in which the hydrogen atoms of a double bond (or unsaturation) are on opposite sides of the molecule. The trans isomer of the fatty acid causes the carbon chain to assume a straight-chain configuration similar to that of a saturated fat. Trans fatty acids are primarily formed through the metal-catalyzed process of hydrogenation, however they have also been found to form naturally and is found at low levels in cow's milk. By hydrogenating oils through industrial processing, hydrogen atoms are added to unsaturated sites on fatty acids, creating a larger population of saturated fats in the oil. In a partially-hydrogenated oil, some of the unsaturated fatty acids remain. However, the processing causes some of the double-bonds of the unsaturated fatty acids to undergo isomerization from the cis configuration to the trans configuration.
Partial hydrogenation of fats was introduced into the U.S. food supply beginning in 1910. The practice was put into widespread use in the 1940's in order to make semisolid fat products. The process of hydrogenation raises the melting point of a fat and increases the solid fat content. Such fats having higher melting points and solid fat content help provide food compositions (e.g., cheese compositions) with highly desirable functional properties. For example, oils containing trans-fats can help a cheese composition to have highly desirable properties (e.g., melt, crumble, stretch, firmness, combinations of these, and the like) at one or more temperatures (e.g., shred temperature, temperature of a consumer's mouth, combinations of these, and the like). In addition, the stability of the fat is greatly enhanced through hydrogenation by reducing susceptibility to oxidation and subsequent rancidity. Therefore, positive contributions to processing properties, shelf-life, texture, and taste of food products (e.g., cheese compositions and food products incorporating such cheese compositions) are imparted by hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats.
A recent consumer trend is to avoid consuming food products that are high in, or have an undue amount of, trans-fat. To help meet consumer demand many food manufacturers would like to provide consumers with food products (e.g., cheese compositions and food products that include cheese (e.g., snack food (e.g., frozen snack food) including pizza, pizza-type snack food, and the like)) having a low amount of trans-fat (e.g., about 5% or less by weight of trans-fat based on the total weight of the fat component). However, changing the formulation of a food composition to accommodate this can present significant technical hurdle(s) because of the reliance specifically on trans-fat containing ingredients to provide one or more highly desirable properties in food products and food product intermediates. Changing the trans-fat content of a food product can significantly impact properties such as processing properties, organoleptic properties, combinations of these, and the like, of the food product. As mentioned above, cheese compositions are complex chemical compositions, therefore its properties (e.g., melt, crumble, stretch, firmness, combinations of these, and the like) could be unduly affected by changes in formulation amounts and/or ingredient(s) that would affect trans-fat content. Accordingly, there is a strong need to provide cheese compositions having a low amount of trans-fat (e.g., about 5% or less by weight of trans-fat based on the total weight of the fat component) while at the same time substantially maintaining and/or improving cheese composition properties such as melt, crumble, stretch, firmness, combinations of these, and the like. In addition, there is a strong need to provide food product(s) including such cheese compositions and methods of making such cheese compositions and food products.